The build is based on the following principles:1. Budget and seeking the most value - both in performance and weight savings for the price.2. Endurance racing & riding foremost. While hill climbs are nice, the goal for ultra-light is, for me, more of a long term benefit. Over the course of 200mi/320km rides and races, weight ends up being a significant factor. Simultaneously whatever I use must be relatively durable and repairable wherever I may be. Which is why tubulars won't always work: if I'm caught without any spare in the middle of nowhere, I'm more likely to find someone or a shop with another tube to purchase than a tubular. While I usually carry two tubes, pump, micro-tool, spare boots and patches, there have been occasions where I've given away those things to fellow riders along the course while riding in areas that have no mobile reception at all. Practicality foremost.3. Make it my own.

And, really, it's an open canvas to experiment. I'm still tinkering with the rear derailleur. The hoods on the levers are a work in progress that, if successful, will be sold as a product. I'm also experimenting with different options to allow Powercordz use on these brakes... which isn't easy so far. Just a canvas to experiment with, really. Logo included, which is a brand concept I've been playing around with. So it's my own design for wordmark and logo. Being the person I am, I already did a mini-side project and designed the brand's full identity suite, letterhead & stationary, everything. Why not be thorough about it? I don't like to half-ass anything in my life.

About the frame: This is/was a Figmo 900 RD. Figmo is a housebrand of Edge-Design out of Taiwan. They design & sell frames for the OEM market, not open-mould although these can be found on occasion from a sample lot. That said, I like it a lot. I've ridden quite a number of quality frames in my time, and certainly there are many that remain on my wish list (Parlee Z5, BH Ultralite, Neil Pryde Bura) but I'll be quite honest that the differences in performance between this and those is not yet significant enough to warrant a purchase. This frame is stiff enough for my needs and I certainly can't deflect it while I do put out some decent power for my weight. It has the right amount of comfort as well - I've ridden this for the past year over smooth roads, off road dirt paths, cracked streets and pavement slabs from the 1920's all without issue for hundreds of miles in a single ride. I absolutely love riding this frame and I appreciate it even more when I know that it cost me a very small fraction of what an equivalent frame might be. The frame was entirely stripped of its original paint, re-coated with 2K clearcoat, then sanded down again to a satin finish. Doing this revealed two things: there was a lot of paint on it and the carbon layup is surprisingly perfect.

I have another set of wheels I can switch to, a custom build which uses Alpha340 rims. If I use the Alpha340 build I lose about 40g but gain an alloy braking surface. I'll be using those wheels for days where I anticipate some wet weather.

Bike of the year for me for a number of reasons. It looks great although I would have gone full Ninja black; you've taken the trouble to do some nice mods and alterations (love the work on the rear mech); but the clincher is getting to that weight for that cost.

Seems like you've gone through a lot of deliberation with this and it's paid off. It has a very cohesive look - nothing looks out of place. I think that's a real difficulty for bike builds. Very well done!

@wolfesquire - Well I ride everywhere, so sometimes "middle of nowhere" is in the Sierras or in Death Valley (just within this state - I also ride out of state). Besides, tubulars are nice but pricey both on initial purchase and in repairs compared to tires and decent tubes. I'll have a set of tubular wheels eventually just for 'special' rides.

@Werdna - nothing yet, it's on the plate of things to tackle. I tried a simple knot underneath the bolt, but it slipped out. I tried using a carbon tube, but it crushed, so it's back to aluminum. Still working on it...

I ended up using a Trader Joe's bottle of vitamins. It was the perfect height, wide enough stance for stability in windy conditions, but man did it distort shadows!

@KGT - Yes, so far the longest ride I've done on this saddle was just over 234km (146mi) and it was comfortable all the way through. It has a lot of flex in the design.

@steve1975 - Yep, heat shrink over the iLinks. I'd rather have the frame protector on the housing than on the frame, makes for easier cleaning and protects the frame no matter where the cables move. Heatshrink was also used in place of crimps for the ends of the brake cables, but since I had two spare crimps for the shift cables I had those anodized in the batch and made use of them. When I put in new cables they will have heat shrink'd ends.

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